5 ways your anxiety is filling your house with clutter

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In her new book, Organised Enough, professional organiser Amanda Sullivan makes the case for a home that is — you guessed it — organised enough. Her method is not about Kondo-style perfectionism, where everything must be discarded and surfaces kept entirely bare; rather, it's about streamlining your current systems and ensuring that your home is as organised as it can be, within the parameters of your lifestyle (ie. one that probably includes kids, work and maybe even a pet or two). In this extract from her book, Sullivan talks us through five ways that anxiety can result in a house full of junk. Do any sound familiar...?
Photographer: Lisa CohenStylist: Lee Blaylock

1. Anxiety about letting go. Do you have a hard time letting go of possessions? Are certain areas of your home “stuck”? Are you overwhelmed by old clothing you can’t bear to part with? Facing your fears will enable you to get rid of clutter. Fear comes in many flavours, and even the most successful and confident people can have irrational worries that cause them to cling to things.
Photographer: Lisa CohenStylist: Lee Blaylock

2. Anxiety about being wasteful. People think their clutter has some monetary value, but they can’t quite get it together to actually sell the thing. The truth is that usually it isn’t really worth their time. Whether it is a dining table or a set of china, they might be able to sell it, but they would have to make and post an ad, ship the item, and so forth, and the net gain might be relatively small. Sometimes it’s easier to just give it to a charity. Don’t be afraid to let stuff go. Giving away something you no longer want that might be worth a hundred dollars doesn’t make you profligate, it makes you generous. (Of course, if you have the time and energy to sell stuff, by all means, go for it.)
Photographer: Marnie Hawson

3. Anxiety about money. Whether caused by debt, uncertainty about the future, or just being unsure about the rules, fear around our finances can be so uncomfortable that we avoid the subject at any cost, which of course becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The result is often an instinct to hold onto every mutual-fund report (garbage!) or old, decrepit piece of clothing. When my client Kristi was moving into a beautiful townhouse, she was reluctant to let go of an old alarm clock. “Do you use it?” I asked her. “No, I have a new one that’s much better.” “So why not throw it out or put it in the donation bag?” “What if the new one breaks?” “Well, you will replace it.” “But what if I am out of work then?” In the grand scheme of things to worry about, her mortgage and renovation costs would be a much bigger issue if she lost her job, which was not really likely anyway, because she was well respected in her industry. It was almost as though her anxiety had attached itself to little stuff like old alarm clocks so that she didn’t have to face the anxiety caused by the much larger commitment of her mortgage.

4. Anxiety about not being able to find it again. Many of my clients save clippings of sofas they like and printouts from the Internet, and they make duplicates of important papers and file them in multiple places to ensure that they can find them when (if ever) they need them. Stop! The fear of not being able to find things is pernicious, because it causes you to save more things, which only makes it harder to find the things you need. Remember, one is better than two. Have a little faith. If you really need it, you are going to be able to find it.
Photographer: Chris Warnes

5. Anxiety about being perfect. Perfectionism is often a big part of fear. “What if I need it?” “What if it’s valuable?” All of these questions are about perfectionism. Underneath these busy, successful women, I hear anxious, high-achieving little girls, who don’t want to do it wrong. It’s a trap. You’ll never be perfect, just frustrated, and, really, is that how you want to live? For further information on Amanda's book, Organised Enough, click here.
Photographer: Sam McAdam-CooperStylist: Sarah Ellison